


Dragon's Fire Kiss

by painted_lady12



Category: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Canon Compliant, Coming Out, Dancing, Drinking, Duelling, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Time, Forced Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Jealousy, Lesbian Character, Minor Injuries, Namaari POV, Sexuality Crisis, Sisu is a good wingman, These girls hate formalwear so much, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 03:01:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29926908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/painted_lady12/pseuds/painted_lady12
Summary: Calloused hands ran circles over her hips, and a gasp hitched in her throat as a voice against her neck whispered, “That was my first kiss.”It sounded breathless and free, as if they had both tumbled off a cliff and were weightless in the sky together.  She felt everything in the plunge, but she wasn’t afraid.  She was focused on the person in front of her.This was the moment that Namaari fell in love; this is when it sank into her bones and became as seminal to her being as her crown and her hair.This was the moment she fell in love with Raya.***Namaari realizes her sexuality after a magical kiss with Raya.  Namaari is torn between her love for Raya and her love for her people when the elders insist that she marry a man to produce an heir.  What will she choose: her duty, or her heart?
Relationships: Namaari/Raya (Disney)
Comments: 106
Kudos: 336





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I watched RATLD on Friday and immediately started writing this fic in my head. Enjoy!
> 
> NOTE: Flashbacks will be told in reverse order. 
> 
> I do not own these characters or this world.

_*Then*_

It never felt like this before.

Kisses were fumbling things, hot breath and hard hands that grasped in the dark. They felt like companionship, and there was comfort in the warm press of two bodies together.

Namaari had kissed before, but it had never felt like this.

This all-consuming burning that was like rage: it sparked and ripped through her body as harshly as a wildfire, but she wasn’t angry at the kissing. Instead, she was angry that she thought any other kissing could compare to this.

Calloused hands ran circles over her hips, and a gasp hitched in her throat as a voice against her neck whispered, “That was my first kiss.”

It sounded breathless and free, as if they had both tumbled off a cliff and were weightless in the sky together. She felt everything in the plunge, but she wasn’t afraid. She was focused on the person in front of her.

This was the moment that Namaari fell in love; this is when it sank into her bones and became as seminal to her being as her crown and her hair.

This was the moment she fell in love with Raya.

  
  


_*Now*_

  
  


Namaari is the only heir to her mother’s territory. 

Kumandra was together once again, but each of the territories still held their own governments and systems. It would take a while to unite like they were hundreds of years ago, so for now Namaari was still a princess, waiting to be crowned. 

Her mother saw her as a fierce warrior and a strong leader. She saw herself that way too, but sometimes it took a few minutes to truly convince herself. After everything that happened with the dragon stone, she questioned what she did more readily, and it was eating at her resolve. 

So her mother and her were in agreement, but the elders were starting to get antsy.

Which is why Namaari is in her nicest silk outfit, a sleeveless white top with aquamarine pants that lead down to impractical flats. At least they weren’t the elevated shoes her mother sometimes wore, these she could at least attempt to run in. So with her impractical outfit she walked purposefully to the elder’s chambers, taking a deep breath before entering.

It was the same as always: five of the oldest and wisest members of Fang with sharp eyes and sharper tongues. The whole place was full of the smell of calming herbs which somehow didn’t do anything to help Namaari’s tense shoulders. 

“Sit, Namaari,” one of them said, and it felt like a death sentence as she obeyed. “We’re here to talk to you about the future of Fang.”

“I’m listening,” she responded, eyes flickering to each of the elder’s wrinkled faces to see if they would give any indication of what was going on.

“As we want to make sure our place as a strong territory is cemented, and you are getting older, we have determined that it is time you started your search for a husband.”

“Husband.” 

The word was dry and sandy in her mouth. She looked around the room, waiting for someone to say they were joking, but no one even twitched a smile.

“We were focused on survival for so long that we forgot to prepare you to take in your role as queen. As the sole heir to the throne, you have to produce your own heir. You shall begin courting eligible males of appropriate standing.”

She thought about the kisses that she shared with the other men her age. About the companionship that it brought, but that it was missing the essential spark that was kindled by her old rival… for the first time in her life, Namaari wasn’t sure she could follow orders. She didn’t know if she could marry a man.

More than anything, that chilled her to her bones. She had a duty to her people, didn’t she? 

Her heart broke as she responded, “What should I do?”

  
  


_*Then*_

  
  


The kiss happened late at night under a stone archway. The archway yawned to the edge of a cliff, and before the kiss the two of them stood close to the edge, giggling and yelling in equal measure.

“You really made jerky out of that stuff?” Namaari asked incredulously, wrinkling her nose at the thought. Looking into the challenging lilt in the other girl’s smile, though, confirmed the horrifying truth. 

“I had no choice. While you were sitting in Fang living it up,” Raya jabbed, poking Namaari’s stomach in a way that _shouldn’t be endearing_ but somehow was, “I was surviving off the land.”

Scoffing, the taller girl rolled her eyes. “You’re one to talk with the way Heart was spoiled all those years.”

There was no kernel of truth in these words, though. These rumors had been dispelled like morning haze during the peace talks between the territories. This wasn’t actual anger but instead teasing. Usually the Fang princess hated teasing. It set her teeth on edge and made her want to throw someone into the canal. This banter with Raya also annoyed her, but it also fluttered restlessly in her stomach in a way unfamiliar to her, and she wanted to figure out what it meant.

No, she needed to figure out what these feelings swirling around in her were.

Namaari had never backed down from a challenge, and she wasn’t starting now.

“You know, I was so obsessed with your betrayal for all those years,” Raya said, her warm brown eyes flickering with the memory, “but we only knew each other for a few hours before that, didn’t we?”

The words were cold water over Namaari, who reeled back in shock. They had only known each other a few hours, but why did I feel so much more intricate than that? “We bonded, though, over dragons! You were the first person I felt connected to in that way!”

Raya raised an eyebrow, saying, “that’s exactly what I’m saying. Even though it was so short, I already felt like we were building something lasting.”

The admission made Namaari stare at the other girl thoughtfully, juxtaposing her younger self over this one but being unable to. This one was stronger, fiercer. The years in the wild had sharpened her features and hardened her expression. However, her eyes still glinted with mischief, and her hair still looked smooth and soft as if she hadn’t spent a day in her life in the desert.

Thoughtlessly, Namaari reached out and stroked a strand, marveling at the way it stayed so healthy through the years. Raya froze up at the touch, and a blush rose up from her chest.

Her tone carried like she was telling a secret as she muttered, “what are you doing?”

There were so many questions in that voice. So many unspoken things were wedges between those four words, and Namaari had no idea how to even begin to answer.

Instead, she brought her other hand up to brush her thumb over full lips. Everything else in the world was on fire, or ran with a flood, or was maybe turning upside down because Namaari felt like something catastrophic was happening in the air around her and she couldn’t make sense of it.

So instead, her eyes met Raya’s.

There was a girlish flush on those rugged cheekbones, and her expression had turned from teasing to blown wide open and vulnerable. Her lips had parted at the touch of a thumb, almost thoughtlessly.

So the only natural next step was to lean in close and brush her lips against the waiting ones of her lifelong rival.

There wasn’t something catastrophic happening around them at all, Namaari decided. No, the catastrophic thing was happening within them as a spark ignited. Raya sighed into the kiss, and the fire started.

Their old selves were razed to the ground, and neither seemed bothered by the burn

  
  


_*Now*_

  
  


Namaari and a few of her friends were busy looking through a long list of names of eligible bachelors. It was her friends, not her, making the marks and the cuts, because when the princess looked at the list she felt a savage desire to rip it to shreds. 

They’d crossed out those who were too old, or too young. They crossed out the sexist pigs and the ones with more blood in their muscles than their brain. 

The group had something to say about all those that were left, until they got to...

“How about Sumate?”

The whole group stopped chattering at that, furrowing their brows. There was a silence that was bereft of any snide comment, or revelation of his worst secret. Instead, the group couldn’t seem to come up with anything to say.

“Wasn’t Sumate your first kiss, Namaari?” One of her friends, Dara, said gleefully. “That would be so romantic!”

Don’t get confused: all of her friends could take down a full grown man in minutes. However, it didn’t change the fact that they could be girly as they wished. 

Namaari was thinking about her friend who had choked a man twice her size out with her thighs, and hadn’t answered which made the room focus on her. Haimi narrowed her eyes, and Namaari was unsettled by how knowing they seemed.

“Namaari? Are you going to weigh in here? This is your future.”

Sumate, Namaari thought idly. Tall, lean, sharp eyes and a sharper wit. Hair that he kept in a top knot that fell in his face as he read ancient texts. There was a time that she thought: yes, that’s what a cute boy would look like. 

That was before the clifftop, though, and the razing.

Now she realized she’s just been trying to pick the easiest target. When her friends giggled about their crushes, she had to pull someone’s name up, and her close friend from sword practice seemed like the natural choice. It was all a game of make believe in comparison, now. 

“Sumate is…” she began, almost tempted to say _not a girl_ before catching herself and saying, “...nice enough.”

“That’s the most you said all day,” Kaloni decided, “Alright, let’s set you up a date with him.”

Haimi was still watching her skeptically before further explaining, “We’ll take care of the rest. Kaloni, Dara, could you give me a minute?”

The two of them complained, but then left the room, chatting about something inane. 

The eyes that saw right through her were narrowing further. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you don’t want to get married.”

She wanted to shout that to the rooftops, but saying it out loud wouldn’t help. Instead, she sealed her hopes up and said, “I’ll do what I have to for my people.”

This was apparently not the answer her friend was looking for, and she sighed, ruffling her hand through her short, cropped hair, barely an inch off her scalp. “Of course. We’ll help you any way we can.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of Namaari's night with Raya is revealed as she moves forward with Sumate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey loves! Your comments have been so sweet and I'm so happy people are enjoying this fic!
> 
> The fic is complete- I will be releasing chapters as I finish editing them. So don't worry, you'll see this whole disaster play out to the end

_*Then*_

  
  


Before the kiss and the clifftop, there was a raucous dance floor.

Namaari was standing with Sisu, Raya, and a few other people her age who were listening to Sisu regale a tail of a time she accidentally flipped a ship, and then had to flip it back over for them without letting them know she was there. At some point she was talked into drinking something sweet with a bite at the end of the sip. It tasted like citrus, and Namaari suspected there was some alcohol in there.

Raya had gotten one too, but hers was darker and had a garnish of mint on top. Both of them were laughing along with the story being told, and neither of them realized how much closer they were getting until Namaari realized her arm was loosely wrapped around the other girl’s waist.

Raya didn’t seem fazed by it at all, actually, and even though Namaari was internally panicking, she thought that pulling away might be even more awkward, so they stayed like that until Sisu finished her story and the whole group applauded her. They dispersed as something upbeat started playing. The band had switched out, and the lively instruments that had started playing made everyone shout in excitement and take to the center of the room like a dance floor.

Sisu threw her hands up in the air, sending her hair into the air like a mane. “This is great! Come on, guys, let’s dance!”

“I don’t know how to dance,” Raya dismissed, taking the last sip of her drink. Sisu glanced between the two of them, miffed. 

“You both know how to move in tandem when you’re fighting, how to react with your bodies to someone else. It’s practically the same as dancing. Come on!”

Sisu grabbed Raya’s hand, and Namaari barely had enough time to put her drink down before she was being hauled onto the floor herself.

It was chaotic, moving through bodies to find space and then watching Sisu move and undulate in a way that looked goofy and alluring all at once. Namaari glanced at Raya, who looked just as confused, and they shared a knowing smile together, the challenge igniting between them again.

“I can dance better than you,” Raya insisted, expression so intense and bright that Namaari swore she saw fire flickering in the brown of her eyes.

“I bet I’m better,” Namaari insisted, their bodies coming closer as they started moving rhythmically.

Neither of them could dance, but Sisu was right. They could _move._

Their steps started faltering, trying to get synced up to the beat, and then they started to move around each other like a dance of hand-to-hand combat, spinning and catching each other’s arms and losing all sense of the rest of the world as they battled over dominance in this intense competition.

Namaari could only see Raya, could only feel her warm, soft skin against hers when they brushed together. They were stuck in a trance together, and they were both sweating and grinning and goading each other on and it felt so familiar and so new all a once.

Then someone bumped into Raya, and she tumbled directly into Namaari’s arms, their bodies so close that their chests were expanding in tandem with their breaths. When those perfect eyes looked up, Namaari felt something intangible slam into her like a hammer to the gut.

What was it? She wasn’t sure, but she knew that she didn’t want to let go. She didn’t want her and Raya to separate again, or dance with other people, or go find wherever Sisu had partied off to. No, Namaari wanted to keep Raya this close indefinitely.

What an idiotic and impossible thought, Namaari chided herself.

“Hey,” Raya said, stepping back, and the taller girl felt the loss intrinsically, “I have a place where we can go talk.”

Dumbstruck, Namaari took the offered hand and followed Raya out of the dance hall.

  
  


_*Now*_

  
  


Sumate looked like a dream.

His light outfit stood starkly against his darker, tanned skin and made him look positively radiant. His hair was knotted with a circlet over the bun with dragon metal carvings. His arms were bare in the outfit, so it was clear where his biceps flexed and tensed even as he was just standing still.

Correction: Sumate looked like some other girl’s dream.

Despite her objective observation of Sumate, none of the things Namaari noticed sent her heart fluttering or her insides reeling. She didn’t forget how to think, instead she was just wondering what she would be doing as her workout in the morning.

When Sumate noticed her, his face lit up and he came right up to her, moving smoothly and gracefully and landing into step next to her without a hitch. “Hello, princess. I’m here to escort you to lunch.”

She responded with a tight smile. “That is the plan.”

She was dressed in something close to a dress, which was extremely impractical and made her feel unbelievably exposed. There wasn’t even room for her favorite knife!

They moved to a pavilion on the lawn of Sumate’s family estate, where a delicious and colorful assortment of food was already laid out with staff waiting to serve them. Namaari plastered on a smile as they sat, and soon the two of them were being served and had said absolutely nothing to each other.

“Namaari, you look like you’re going to be sick.”

The princess snapped her gaze up to meet his and shook her head. “No, I’m just hungry.”

Sumate waved the servants away, moving himself to pour her a fruity drink and offer it. “Sip, it’ll relax you.”

He moved back to his seat, but Namaari hadn’t taken a sip. Muttering an “ah” in realization, Sumate poured from the same container for his own drink and took a sip first. “See? No danger.”

Hesitant, Namaari took a sip, and the sweet taste with the bite at the end caught her off guard. “We need alcohol to get through this conversation?”

Snorting, Sumate took a sip himself. “I just enjoy the taste. I think _you_ need it to get through this interaction.”

He wasn’t wrong, of course, so she took another sip. The bite at the end flashed her back to whirling around in Raya’s arms, bringing her in close, the taste of her neck…

“Is it good?”

Namaari nodded quickly, taking another sip and coming back to full attention. “I need a husband,” she stated matter-of-factly, which was followed up by another big sip of her drink.

Chuckling, Sumate took a bite of his food, surveying her carefully. “Jumping right into the good stuff, are we?”

“You know why I’m here, I don’t see the need for us to mince words,” Namaari said. Despite the sunny day, it felt like there were clouds gathering and dimming the light around her. “I need an heir, and you are one of my oldest friends. Producing one shouldn’t be too hard.”

Sumate had chosen to take a sip of his drink right before “heir” and snorted it out his nose, coughing frantically. One of the servants tried to run back into the pavilion, but the attractive man waved them off with a roguish wink. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me!”

Namaari was barely containing her own laughter. “What’s wrong, scholar? Is thinking about heirs too much for you?”

“Yes, it’s pretty forward of you to be talking about the act of making children when we’re still discussing the possibility of marriage,” Sumate explained, and he looked absolutely delighted despite the fact that his eyes were watering . 

Namaari took a bite of her food thoughtfully, feeling a blush high on her cheekbones. “I trust you. I don’t trust many people. Plus, I understand the basic mechanics of baby making, and we’ve kissed before, so it stands to reason that…”

“...that what? That kissing and having sex are the same?”

Namaari glared. “That I would _feel safe_ during the act. I’m not an idiot. However, the longer this conversation goes on, the more doubts I have.”

That seemed to sober both of them up, and Sumate and her dug into their meals, standing on the precipice waiting for the other to move the conversation forward.

“I trust you, too. I might even learn to love you some day,” Sumate stated after a few minutes. “I agree to your proposal. We’ll get married, and I’d be proud to be your consort.”

  
  


_*Then*_

  
  


Before the clifftop...

Before the kiss…

Before the dancing...

...there was the festival earlier that afternoon. One year of peace between the territories was celebrated at Heart. There were lanterns that sparked and floated in the air, and instruments playing that Namaari didn’t even know the name of. There were food vendors from all over Kumandra that flocked to the center of the celebration and everyone was indulging in the richest delicacies because they _could_. It had been so long since their people had the ability to celebrate like this.

Namaari showed up with her mother and their court, and the moment would stick in Namaari’s head forever: this is what life was supposed to be like, full of loud and gleeful voices that crescendoed with music and drifted over the heads of hundreds of vibrant people. The lights and the mood immediately made Namaari crack the tiniest smile, and she felt tears in the corner of her eyes before she quickly wiped them away. 

This is what they fought for, what she’d risked everything for in those last moments. So that families could be together, and they can celebrate unity like this.

Virana looked at her daughter for a moment, watching the smile light up her face, and she told her, “Go, have fun.”

Namaari didn’t need telling twice.

Her life had been war, survival, barely hanging on. There’d been concessions and hardship, so this felt like a whole different world to her. She immediately got herself a juicy pork skewer and wandered the area, catching sights of familiar leaders and warriors from other territories. She watched a fire show, and was even roped into doing a presentation on swordplay when a civilian recognized her.

She was showing a move when another sword clanged against hers, making her start and glance at the person meeting her strike.

In a comfortable wrap shirt and loose embroidered pants, Raya grinned at her, like an animal with prey. “Sloppy form, princess.”

The words made Namaari’s nostrils flare, and she glared into her friend’s eyes. There were sparkles like stars that dotted around her tear ducts, which only made her expression more stunning. 

Instead of answering, Namaari adjusted her stance, holding her sword up in a challenge. “My form is just fine. Want to test it?”

The two of them had just started their movements towards each other when a bright blue and purple head of hair jumped between them and pushed them apart, surprising both girls. “Raya, you promised to leave your sword in your room!”

Shrugging, she sheathed it under the folds of her loose pants. “I said I’d think about it.”

Sisu groaned, then turned to Namaari. “Hey girl, it’s so nice to see you! How’s it been over in Fang?”

Truthfully? Chaotic, unpredictable, and overwhelming. However, seeing Sisu always made Namaari’s brain stop functioning in awe. A real dragon that knew her name and was talking to her!?!? She couldn’t admit she was overwhelmed. She had to play it cool. “We’re faring well. How about you?”

Sisu laughed, grabbing Raya by the shoulders as if to hold her back from attacking again. “I’ve been hanging out with this one mostly, but also working with my sibs to stabilize everything. You wouldn’t believe how many things dragons used to help with. How have you been surviving all this time?”

“Painfully,” Raya supplied, just as Namaari said, “With hard work.”

The two of them met eyes. Somehow in the wake of their old rivalry it felt like Namaari should yell, or Raya should snarl, but instead their shared glance was familiar and challenging. It was like they started a game.

Namaari just _hated_ losing.

Later, when they found themselves being led to a hall with a dance floor, Raya looked back at her with that grin that set off a thousand fights. It told her that Raya knew her tells and her motivations better than anyone, and it became apparent in that moment that the person who knew her best in this world was making snide remarks with Sisu while they were walking.

When Sisu handed Namaari a drink, she immediately downed half of it.

  
  


_*Now*_

  
  


Virana was staring at her daughter, stunned.

“You secured a proposal in two days?”

“I’m efficient and capable,” Namaari responded smoothly, feeling as if she was reporting to her commanding officer with a report, not her mother with a fiance.

Virana smiled, brushing a hand through her daughter’s short hair on one side. “You are perfect, my Morning Mist. Sumate is a fine choice. The elders will be pleased.”

Looking into her mother’s eyes, Namaari wavered. She thought about telling her mom everything, including about Raya. She wanted to express that the idea of marrying her friend was just the best she could make of a bad situation. These things burned inside her, but she also felt her deep sense of duty pin her to the spot and bolt her lips closed. 

As her mother’s arms came around her, it felt like a cage.

“That’s wonderful, darling. I just want you to find the best match. Sumate should come to the dinner we’re having next week with the other chiefs. We’re discussing expanding agriculture since the number of mouths to feed has gone up.”

“Right, because there was a hunger problem after everyone was turned back from stone,” Namaari remembered, and remembered going out with her warriors to bring desperately needed aid to the starving masses.

Virana nodded. “I think having him there will be a good way to introduce him as your future consort. You can also have him meet Raya, I’m sure she’d love to meet him.”

The name made Namaari feel dizzy suddenly. The idea of Sumate and Raya being in the same room was impossible. The two of them were from different worlds of hers, and the idea of introducing Raya to Sumate, explaining that she was going to be marrying him…

Virana looked at her daughter with concern, touching her shoulder. “Darling, are you alright? You’re shaking.”

“Yes,” she said quickly, shrugging off her mother’s hand. “I just always get nervous when the territories meet. There’s a fifty/fifty chance it’ll end with a lot of screaming.”

She chief looked unconvinced, saying, “Luckily we’re all on the same page when it comes to making sure our people are fed. There isn’t much to argue about.”

“Right,” Namaari dismissed, shaking her head to clear it. “Right, I’ll just go start preparing notes for the meeting.”

Virana touched her daughter’s chin so that they made eye contact. “Look at you, love. You’re always set and ready to dive in. It’ll make you a great chief someday.”

Those words sliced like knives into the princess’ last remaining dregs of rebellion. She would be a great chief, she would have an heir, and she would bring her people to prosperity. It wasn’t an option, even if it did break her heart along the way.

She excused herself, heading down an empty hallway. Then it all finally hit her: engagement, seeing Raya, her mother’s pride, the elder’s expectations... she immediately went to a nearby pot and threw up her lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, comment, and share if you enjoy this! Feedback makes my heart happy<3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raya and Namaari's fiery personalities come to a head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashbacks will no longer be going backwards!

_*Then*_

**  
  
**

Everything after the kiss felt electrified. The two of them held hands as they ran back down to the party and danced until the sun came up. They passed out in a collective heap with Sisu in Raya’s rooms, completely worn out. Falling asleep in the mane of a dragon was a dream come true, and Raya was curled up tucked into Sisu’s tail. 

They were all rudely awakened the next morning when formal lunch was announced and Raya and Namaari were required to attend.

They both grumbled and threw things at each other to get dressed, having a similar sense of style. Namaari tried to ease the fluttering of her heart when Raya shrugged off her sleeping pants and she saw the long expanse of her legs, bruised from training and full of scars and marks from previous fights. Her breathing hitched when she then saw the wide, muscled plane of Raya’s back on full display.

Namaari was short circuiting, and that wasn’t the worst part.

The worst part was Sisu looking at her knowingly when she finally pried her eyes away.

If looks could kill, the look that Namaari gave Sisu should have knocked her to the ground. Completely unruffled, Sisu just winked and smirked like she had the most exciting secret.

Luckily, the dragon wouldn’t be joining them for lunch.

The two of them scrambled to look presentable, including Namaari throwing on some eyeliner, and finally they reached lunch with barely a minute to spare.

No one blinked when the two of them showed up together as most knew that her and Raya had become friends after the events of the year before. Namaari could see it, too: the two of them staying just as close, being friends forever on the outside, but maybe, behind closed doors they could be something more.

The two of them shared secret glances during the meal. They made funny faces and teased each other mercilessly. Their friendship was, in a lot of ways, the cornerstone of bringing Kumandra back together, so the two of them bantering kept the conversation flowing easily.

Raya’s dad, however, seemed to be looking between the two of them differently than everyone else. His eyes scanned over Namaari as if he could pick apart her thoughts, and it made her shiver and try not to make eye contact.

They were leaving after lunch, so Raya and Namaari went back to Namaari’s room to finish packing her things. When the door closed, however, Raya’s arms came around Namaari’s waist, making the taller girl almost melt against the warm body behind her.

The way her breath punched out of her at the embrace was as violent as a blow to the chest.

Their contact kindled the embers from the kiss the night before, and Namaari turned around in Raya’s grip, running her fingers through the other girl’s hair, then pressing a lingering kiss to the crown of her head thoughtlessly. 

“My dad won’t care, you know,” Raya said confidently, fingers trailing over Namaari’s spine. With the sensation it took a second to catch on to what Raya was saying. 

She was stunned to say the least, but thought about her own mother. “I don’t know what my mom would say. I’m not ready to ask.”

The mood was tense as Raya stiffened in the grip. “What, are you afraid?”

Namaari prickled at the challenge. “No, of course I’m not afraid!”

“Then why can’t you tell your mother?”

“Why do I have to!?”

They’d pulled away from each other, the force of it making them both wince. “What, you want me to be your dirty little secret? I don’t want that, Namaari! The way we were dancing yesterday, I didn’t think you were trying to hide how you felt.”

The words tilted Namaari’s world on her axis. She was right, she kissed Raya where anyone could walk by, and she danced with Raya in ways that she wasn’t even sure were appropriate on that dance floor.

What was she so afraid of?

“I don’t know, Raya, I didn’t know! I didn’t know how I felt before now! I never even thought about love, or a future, I was just trying to get to next week!”

Throwing up her hands in the air, Raya muttered, “What does that matter? That was before, this is now.”

Namaari didn’t know what to do. There was an invisible barrier keeping her from promising to tell her mom, but the idea of losing Raya was making the world crumble around her. It was nerve-racking and terrifying and that was probably why she said:

“I need time to think, Raya. I don’t know anything about love.”

The other girl stiffened, her fiery eyes flashing as she responded, “When you’re done thinking, you know where to find me.”

When Raya stormed out of the room, Namaari fell to her knees and sobbed.

**  
  
**

_*Now*_

  
  


Namaari felt sick.

She spent the morning on her steed, running at break-neck speed around the grounds across the canal from the palace. With the feeling of the wind in her hair, and the warm fur of her Serlot beneath her, she could almost forget that today was going to be an absolute disaster.

Eventually, though, she needed to get back and get ready for the meeting. She wanted to dress in her warrior formalwear, but her mom thought that it would seem too aggressive, and that they should go with a more relaxed, regal look. Namaari ended up in a slate grey and silver trimmed outfit that was completely outside of her comfort zone but looked right inside her mother’s. 

She braided the hair over her undercut, and fastened another earring to her other ear. Once she was ready, Namaari got up and opened the door to her room.

Sumate was standing there, looking as handsome as ever. He took one look at her and raised an eyebrow. “Very nice, but you look like you want to hack it to pieces.”

“Astute observation,” she responded, smirking. “Shall we go?”

Each step felt like she was going to her own funeral. She tried to imagine how Raya would react, and it ranged anywhere to absolute fury to disgruntled indifference and both of those sounded like terrible options.

So when Namaari got to the hall just outside the meeting room, she stepped away and pulled her arm out from where it was linked with Sumate’s. “I need to use the restroom, I’ll be right in.”

As soon as she turned the corner, she bolted.

She was halfway across the palace before she finally pulled herself together and took deep, calming breaths. She had never run from a fight, but somehow this was something she would run from? No, she was no coward! That mindset was the only thing that propelled Namaari back to the hallway just outside the meeting room.

There, because the universe hates her, Raya was walking to the entrance with her dad.

Namaari froze in a panic, and looked around her to see if there was anywhere to hide but the other princess had seen her already. There was nowhere to run. Raya told her dad to go in without her, and soon the other girl was walking straight for Namaari.

Of course she looked stunning. She was in a soft, velvety tunic with crystals beaded into the neckline, and beautiful matching pants. Namaari couldn’t help to follow the line of her body with her eyes, and immediately started blushing because she wasn’t allowed to do this.

“Hey,” Raya said, and she leaned in. Namaari panicked, wondering if it would be a kiss, or a whisper, but instead she was enveloped in a truly wonderful hug.

It was like her actual soul sighed in relief, and it made her want to sob. Namaari clutched to Raya’s back tightly, wanting to hold onto this connection for just a little longer before it was all shattered.

“We can talk after the meeting, alright?” Raya then whispered, and Namaari nodded knowing full well that that conversation wouldn’t happen.

Raya would probably get as far away from her as possible.

They walked into the meeting room, and Raya split to be with her dad and Namaari split to sit with her mom and Sumate, who was waiting with a smile and an outstretched hand.

Grabbing his hand felt like the worst kind of surrender, and she knew any second Raya would look over here and see it.

A few minutes later everything settled down, and finally her mother stood and announced, “Welcome to Fang. Before we begin, I would like to introduce the new guest we have with us here tonight. This is Sumate’s, Namaari’s betrothed. They are to be married by the change of seasons.”

Namaari would be moved by the clapping and well-wishes that were coming her way, had she not made the mistake of looking at the Heart table.

Devastation was ravaging and tore you down to the bones and bolts. Vengeance was a hurricane of rage and motivation that culminated into one, unified goal.

Somehow, Raya was emanating the energy of both simultaneously, and Namaari was fairly certain that the look in Raya’s eyes could kill. The fire that sparked their rivalry and then their friendship was now wild in her eyes.

The meeting went on around her, she knew. She knew that at some point she even managed to give a presentation, with robotic words and even allowing time for questions. Her mother was watching her like a hawk with concern the whole time, but even with the monotone voice she was perfect.

She was always perfect.

Sumate held her hand the whole time, as if he could sense something was wrong and didn’t know how to help. He’d have to be blind not to see her expression, which she was sure was some combination of haunted and wrecked.

When the meeting was over and by the time Namaari could look up, Raya was already gone.

She stood with Sumate, and the two of them swept from the room. He started fussing over her immediately, trying to get her to talk to him, but she could barely even see ahead of her.

Which is why, when they got to the hallway leading to her room, she didn’t see Raya until the other girl stepped out of the shadows.

Her sword gleamed in her hand, and she pointed it at Sumate with a gleam of retribution in those fire eyes. “I challenge you to a duel for Namaari’s hand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this, please like, comment, or share<3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another revelation regarding Namaari and Raya colors a duel between Raya and an unexpected adversary

_*Then*_

  
  


A few months after their fight, Namaari found herself scaling the palace walls of the chief’s home in Heart. It wasn’t her finest moment, of course. She should have gone in the front door, but she didn’t want to have to deal with the social niceties, or explain what she was doing there. It was easier to avoid other people altogether so she could accomplish her real goal here, which was to talk to Raya.

When she reached the window, she looked in and squeaked like a tiny rodent.

Raya was standing naked in her room, running a comb through her hair and dripping everywhere from what was probably a bath. Deft fingers work through her long tresses and somehow just the sight of that made Namaari weak.

Unfortunately, the squeak didn’t lend itself to stealth, and Raya immediately looked up, holding her comb out like a weapon.

Namaari closed her eyes as fast as possible and said softly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know! I just wanted to talk to you!”

There was a sigh from somewhere in front of her, and then Raya’s voice said, “You couldn’t knock?”

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Namaari said, realizing how silly the whole concept was. By avoiding talking to her dad, Namaari has now seen Raya completely naked and is padding forward in her bedroom with her eyes closed.

After Namaari almost tripped on a rug, she felt warm hands grasp her wrists, and a gentle voice said, “Open your eyes. You can look at me.”

There was no way she heard that right. Namaari peeked in front of her, and Raya was standing there, her wet hair wild around her face. Her cheeks were still red from when she realized she was being watched.

Raya’s thumb brushed over Namaari’s pulse point on her wrist, and then she pressed her lips there. “I told you. You can look.”

This is it, this was when she was going to die. She would die of a heart attack because the girl she loved wants to show her naked body.

Deciding that it was a good way to go, Namaari let her eyes trail down.

Raya had gained some weight since being in her role as princess again, and it showed itself in lush curves around her belly and chest. Her powerful muscles ripped around her like chords, providing lines for Namaari’s eyes to follow when she couldn’t pick what to look at first.

She was beautiful, and strong, and somewhere deep inside Namaari was getting quite hot and restless at the sight.

When she finally looked up, she saw that Raya had the faintest hint of anxiety on her face. “Do I look okay?”

Stunned, Namaari couldn’t even fathom that Raya didn’t realize how gorgeous she was. Was she blind? Has she ever seen herself naked in the mirror?

“Yeah,” Namaari sighed finally, and the word snapped Raya out of her own fear. They both seemed to relax at the word together, and Raya’s fingers slid up Namaari’s wrists to her shoulder, playing with the sleeve on the shirt.

“I want to see you, too.”

Yeah, this was going to kill her.

Raya took a few steps back with a swagger, looking just as excited as Namaari was. She'd recovered from the anxiety, and was now stalking like a predator. Namaari forgot to breathe. Then Raya clarified: “only if you want, of course.”

There it was, the gauntlet was thrown. The challenge was on the table, so Namaari had to rise to it.

She took her time unfastening her shirt and then bringing it over her head. Next were the wrappings around her breasts, which fell to the floor in a heap. She hung heavy and free and it felt like a relief to not be caged up. She slid her pants down next, kicking off her boots and standing in front of Raya, feeling emboldened by their competitive nature.

“Obviously I look incredible,” Namaari challenged, lifting her eyebrow and winking with way more confidence than she should have had, but it seemed to be well-earned.

Raya was also completely enraptured, coming forward and reaching her hand out but not touching. Instead, it was far more reverent. She was just running over the curves of her body in the air as if trying to memorize them, the heat of her hand almost touching but not quite. Namaari wanted to lean into the touch badly enough that it hurt.

“Your chest is bigger than mine,” Raya pointed out with a glazed-over look in her eye, “Doesn’t that get annoying?”

The laughter that erupted out of them was so natural that the intense spell was broken, and Namaari reached out and brushed the wet hair from Raya’s face. “Yeah, they do. Sometimes I need help wrapping them in the morning.”

“Some poor maid has to help you wrap your breasts?”

Namaari was affronted. “Hey, they get a great view!”

“Yeah they do.”

Raya’s husky words were the kindling that they needed, because Namaari whispered, “Can I touch you?”

Just like the earlier “yeah” signaled a release of tension, when Raya sighed “yes” it was unleashing the inferno.

Namaari felt hot all over, and her hands didn’t know whether they wanted to explore, bury into hair, hug the other girl close, and all of those options warred until Raya pulled her to the bed, and the two of them collapsed on top of it.

As they crawled onto it together, Namaari knew deep in her bones that this was the point of no return. If she didn't leave now, she would never be able to get Raya out from under her skin. 

However, looking at those wide eyes and lush parted lips, Namaari knew she would never have the will to leave. Everywhere they touched soldered together until there was no separating them, and finally Namaari reached out and nipped Raya's lower lip, dragging her teeth along the skin there and savoring the way Raya's body arched at the attention. Smiling wickedly, Namaari figured she had the upper hand, but that was before Raya used her position beneath her to flip them, pinning Namaari's hands to the bed and leaning over her.

Namaari was helpless. She was going to be devoured by this predator in front of her, and she couldn't seem to find it in her heart to care.

Then, finally, Raya dove down and licked into Namaari's mouth, and it was a quick slide down.

After that, they moved forward on instinct and never looked back. Hands sought out the places that made them each moan and gasp, teeth and tongue tasted lips and skin and their bodies were entwined so tightly that they could barely breathe without tasting the other in the air.

The inferno between them grew, and grew, and grew, until they fit their mouths together and rode out their undoing. After a moment, when the summer rain came to wash away the fire, what was left were two girls: sweating, breathless, staring into each other’s eyes like there was an answer for everything in the space between them.

They didn’t end up talking.

When they woke up, Raya had immediately ran off to training and kissed Namaari good-bye as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Namaari said she'd have to leave before Raya got back because she had responsibilities today, and Raya just smirked and said they'd talk later.

Namaari couldn’t stop grinning the whole way home.

  
  


_*Now*_

  
  


Namaari cursed whoever decided that formalwear shouldn’t allow for weapons. Clearly Heart had that ability, so Fang should get with the program.

Of course, that was the least of their problems.

Sumate was looking between Raya and Namaari, and the boy’s intelligent eyes were piecing together the puzzle so quickly that Namaari started to panic.

“You want to duel me?”

“Yes,” Raya announced, sinking into an opening stance for a fight. “I am in love with her.”

Of course at that moment her mom rounded the corner, and she gasped loudly at the exposed sword. “Princess Raya, what is the meaning of this!?”

The three of them looked between each other, and it seemed like none of them wanted to budge. When Virana called for the guards, though, they flooded into the hallway and Raya put her hands up.

What was she doing? Why wasn't Raya fighting back?

She could have just explained the moment they arrived, but Raya's lips were sealed as her determined face never left Sumate's. 

Sumate could just expose them to get Raya out of trouble, couldn't he? Why are they letting her be arrested? 

Why isn’t Raya just saving herself?

Then it hit her, and she felt her knees go weak.

Raya wasn’t the one who needed to tell her mom. Sumate was her friend first, and would not betray her trust. They were leaving the ball in her court to sort things out based off of what Namaari wanted to say.

So Namaari took Virana’s hand, forcing eye contact and hoping beyond all hope that they would be able to get past this.

“She’s just being stupidly chivalrous, mom. She’s in love with me,” Namaari’s eyes welled up as she looked at Raya, whose face was hardened and expectant, “I’m in love with her, too.”

The hallway was silent for a few minutes. Virana’s face was unreadable, and Namaari had started planning for where she would spend her days in exile when the chief said, “Why did you raise your sword, Raya?”

“I wanted to fight for her hand in marriage,” Raya announced boldly, not taking her eyes off of Namaari. “I wanted to fight Sumate for the privilege.”

Namaari’s heart was so full, but she knew that it was on the precipice of breaking, that there were only a matter of seconds until the ball dropped.

“You will not be fighting Sumate for my daughter’s hand in marriage,” she pulled out her staff and shucked off her cape, which fluttered dramatically to the floor. “You will be fighting me.”

Her mother surged forward and all of the guards fled. Namaari grabbed Sumate and threw him back just as Raya’s sword clanged with the staff her mother was wielding. Immediately Namaari got up to intervene, but a hand reached and grabbed her forearm. When she looked back, Sumate was smiling sadly. “I had a feeling, you know. It’s alright.”

The words were acceptance and forgiveness laced together.

Still, Namaari tried to pull from his grasp. She felt like a caged animal. “Thank you, but I need to…”

“...let them do this,” Sumate insisted, pointing at the fight, “This is between the two of them.”

Just like during the meeting, Sumate clasped her hand as they watched the duel clash and tumbled before them.

The sound had brought people from all corners of the castle, including Benja, who saw his daughter fighting and surged forward without a stray thought.

Namaari ran to him, saying, “It’s a duel, not a fight. Raya called for it.”

The chief of Heart looked rapidly back and forth between Namaari and his daughter. She could see how being a father was warring with his desire to respect his daughter's judgment, and after a moment his body went lax and his eyes trained on the fight instead. 

Namaari followed his gaze in time to see that Virana had swept her staff under Raya’s legs, which caught her left ankle and sent the princess to the ground. The resulting boom of Raya landing on her back sent a ripple of shock through the crowd, and the force made Raya's breathe force out of her in a raspy cough. Namaari grabbed Sumate’s hand again, feeling helpless as she watched the fight, itching to do something.

She wanted to fight with her mother, but she wanted to fight by Raya’s side. Ultimately, though, Sumate was right.

It wasn’t _her_ fight.

Raya had managed to dodge a blow from above by rolling, and extended her sword to grab onto the ceiling. The extendable weapon that caused Namaari so much strife was lifting her up in the air like she was flying. Just like back then, Namaari couldn't help but stare in awe.

It went back and forth like this for what felt like hours. The people settled down to watch on the ground, and there were bets being tossed around between the onlookers every few seconds. Even with all that, Namaari’s eyes never strayed from the place where the weapons met, and never allowed her to calm down. However, she did hear that Sumate bet his prize hound that Raya would come out on top. She didn't even have the energy to determine how she felt about that.

Then a strong strike to Raya’s arm cracked like a whip and sent a gasp through the crowd. Raya dropped her sword, gripping the spot that she was hit with a sob of pain.

Virana held her staff to Raya’s face. “Do you yield?”

Raya could barely breathe, but one look back at Namaari made the whole fight freeze.

There were only two of them for a moment, and Namaari tried to communicate to Raya everything she couldn’t say. Those unspoken words wove around them to block out the bets and the cheers and leave them in a world of their own. It could have been hours or seconds. Namaari took in the messy hair and the bruises and felt her heart clench. The expression of pain and far on Raya's face dissolved into something more determined. Those fire eyes roared to life, and the corner of her mouth turned up in an arrogant smirk. That same smirk had driven Namaari crazy for a very different reason before and it told her everything she needed to know. Her lover broke their spelled gaze, turned that passionate gaze onto Virana, and shouted, “Never!”

She used the surprise to twist around the staff and jump over Virana, stepping on her shoulder as she snatched the staff right out of her hand.

The whole crowd went wild as Raya looked at Namaari and tossed her the staff with a victorious grin.

Virana turned around just in time for Raya to pick up her own sword and hold it to the chief’s face. “Do you yield?”

You could hear a pin drop now as Raya and her mother stared each other down. Their gazes are uncompromising and stubborn, just like the women. Finally, after a few moments, Virana raised up her hands. “I yield. You have won, the terms of the duel stand.”

There were quite a few confused looks, but Namaari didn’t care that they didn’t know what the fight was about. She scrambled up and threw herself at Raya, lifting her up and twirling her before bringing her into her arms. “You’re so stupid,” Namaari insisted, pulling back to look at Raya’s face, dirty with a bruise forming on her jaw.

“I’m stupid, but apparently I’m marrying you,” Raya whispered, and Namaari sobbed in relief in pulled her in for a kiss.

Then, of course, all manner of chaos broke loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for continuing to read, and like/comment/share if you're enjoying it!


End file.
